Simple Tasks
by LockBox22
Summary: Casey thought it was a simple task. Fix the hard drive filled with classified materials. It wasn't too much to ask of a colleague; was it?


CHAOS

Simple Tasks

Written By LockBox22

o0o

Casey paced back and forth in front of his desk. It was late, too late to still be in the damn building; but unfortunately, he couldn't leave yet. The object of his angst sat on his desk. He stopped pacing and turned to glare at the thing that holding him back; the thing was making him waste valuable time and energy.

The presence at the doorway made him turn. She didn't speak; just went straight to the desk, placing her clipboard and files down. He looked her over; sharp eyes taking in details that most people would have missed. She was wearing royal blue today; the colour that worked best with her dark hair and eyes. The dark pants were standard issue, but what wasn't was the equipment that stuck out of every possible pocket space.

"What did they do to you? Poor baby." She muttered running her hands over the broken machine; her fingers found the dents, cracks, and general misuse the portable computer had suffered. The silver necklace slipped free from the confines of her shirt and dangled over the air.

"Are you going to fix or pet it?" Casey asked with his usual charm.

The tech - Kennedy Flynn - didn't look up at him. "Computers are to be respected, Agent. Obviously, you've been neglecting this one." She replied without any malice. She sighed as she replaced the computer on the desk gently. "I'd ask, but..."

"Classified." Casey replied shortly before she could finish.

Kennedy nodded. "Of course." She turned back to the machine. Her delicate fingers found the single bullet hole that had been the last straw to put the machine out of it's misery. She pulled something from her pocket and then reached inside the hole. She withdrew the bullet that had lodged itself inside the computer's innards with a pair of tweezers and held it out towards him.

Casey held out his hand and she dropped the metal into the palm of his hand. He looked up at her, finding that she had almost invaded his personal space. "Souvenir." She told him quietly before turning around, back to the desk.

He closed his fist around the bullet, feeling the smooth edges and moved closer to Kennedy. She didn't flinch at his presence behind her. "I might be able to fix it." She replied to his wordless question. She was unscrewing the base of the computer now with a quick gestures that spoke of many hours of practice. "If your hardware is intact then it's just a matter of getting a new body."

"How long?" Casey asked shortly.

"A week, maybe longer." She replied still not looking up at him. He looked at her intently and this time she did look up. "Ok, four days." She admitted. Casey nodded, pleased she was going to be quick. She gave him a small smile of respect, knowing that he had was testing the limits of her skills.

She turned back to her work and deftly removed the cover of the machine and carefully pulled out a piece of the computer's innards. It was intact; with a tiny bit of damage in the left-hand corner. She grinned at the sight of the pristine little machine. "Perfect."

She replaced the screwdriver into her back pocket and then reached towards her clipboard, holding it and a pen that had magically appeared in her hand towards him. "I need your signature."

Casey took the pen and scribbled his usual scrawl at the bottom of the page. He noted that she had already taken the liberty of filling out of the rest of the form for him. He handed the pen back to her. "Is forging an agent's handwriting part of technical training, Flynn? People get thrown into jail for less."

She took the pen from his grasp. "I'll take my chances." She retorted. She gathered up the ruined computer and the files that she had been carrying when she first came in. "We really have to stop meeting like this, you know." She told him, turning back to face the older agent. Her dark eyes sparkled in jest. "People might start talking."

"Let 'em talk." Casey replied, placing a hand into his pocket. "Spies gossip; it's in the job description. What matters is that the people involved know the truth."

"And what truth would that be, Agent Malick?" Kennedy asked rhetorically, already halfway out the door. The door clicked shut behind her, effectively ending the conversation.

Casey sighed quietly as he leaned back against the desk. "That Michael is going to be absolutely thrilled." He muttered sarcastically under his breath.

With a sigh, he pushed himself up and walked towards the door. It was another day and a half before his partner decided to inquire about the computer. And Casey suspected that he only asked because they were bouncing in the back of a truck on their way to the target and the other man was bored.

It was a little known secret that only Casey knew. When there was no action, no escape plan, or scenario to occupy his mind, their fearless team leader became bored. And when he became bored, he delegated his mind to thinking about bits and pieces of other information. Casey could tolerated it as it was always case orientated. He dreaded the day when his partner decided to pursue personal matters.

Today however, his dread went both ways.

"You did _what_?"

Michael's tone of displeasure was made even more evident by the way the other, dark-haired agent turned to glare at his older partner. Unfortunately -being in a moving truck – Michael's gesture almost gave him whiplash _and_ a concussion as the truck bounced over another pothole.

Casey was relieved that Michael didn't bash his head against the ceiling. It would have made the team leader glare for days on end; the man needed a sense of humour. "I gave it to someone." He repeated. "Do I need to say it again?"

"No." This time Michael did glare. "I heard you the first time. I just didn't believe that you would do something so stupid; let alone trust someone with information like that."

"Oh, please. It's three days." Casey reminded him. "Just until this mission is over. And it wasn't just anyone. The drive hasn't even left the building."

They bumped over another pothole, sending them sliding to one side. Michael banged on the back of the cab with his fist angrily. "Since when did we agree that Billy would drive?" He grumbled, leaning back in his seat.

"Since he looked more native." Casey replied. The truck shook once again, sending them a few inches into the air. "He's worse then a London cabbie." He agreed. "Next time, I'll drive."

"That thought scares me even more." Michael muttered under his breath. He glared again, but it was softer this time. "Three days?"

"Three days." Casey confirmed. "It'll be fixed and ready to use by the time we get back."

"I hope you're right." Michael sighed. Casey could see the wheels turning in the other man's mind and knew that Michael was thinking about four dozen different ways that his decision could go wrong. It didn't bother him. It was how he thought and it had saved them from more then a few scrapes.

They hit another bump and just about flew through the roof. Casey scrambled to regain his seat. "Ok! That's it." He exclaimed, banging on the small grate that separated the cab from the bed. "Collins!"

o0o

Two days later, they were back on American soil. As they were unloading their bags from the car, Casey's cell phone rang. It was Kennedy Flynn. He picked up. "Hello?"

"_Casey, I just wanted to let you know that there was an issue with the hard-drive you sent me. I'm going to need you to meet me."_

Casey? He didn't know they were on a first name basis. "Sure. We're just walking to the building now."

"_Um, I'm not at the office. I had to bring it home. Can you meet me here? You remember the address, right?" _

Trap. It had to be a trap. "Yeah. I can do that. I can be there in thirty minutes."

"_Ok. I'll see you then. Bye." _

Casey hung up the phone. He waited until Billy and Rick had gone on ahead before turning to Michael. "We have a problem."

Michael looked at him from where he was bending over the trunk. The other man straightened up at the look on his partner's face.

"The person I left the disc with?" Casey continued. "She just called me. Someone's got her."

"Trap?" Michael asked.

Casey nodded. "Trap. You in?"

Michael closed the trunk. "I'm in."

It took them a few minutes to get the address and then another twenty minutes to get to the location. Casey entered the house first. It was clear except for Kennedy who was tied to a chair in the living room. Casey quickly went over to her and removed the tape from her mouth, and hands.

"Where are they?" He asked.

Kennedy started to speak, but Casey watched as her eyes got wide. "Look out!" She shouted.

She ducked as the man behind Casey broke a chair over the agent's head. She scrambled backwards, tripped and landed on her butt as Casey fell to the floor. She grabbed the computer from the floor and scooted under the table.

Michael sprung into action from the entrance way where he had been hiding, firing several shots towards the man. The assassin ducked all of them. The man brought up his weapon and fired a shot by the entrance way, it went through the wall, stopping Michael in his tracks.

"I will shoot you." The man warned. "Come out."

Michael stepped into the open. He motioned for the agent to release his weapon.

Michael lowered the gun and then tossed it at the assassin, taking the weapon out of the other man's hand. He rushed the assassin. Blows were traded with the assassin coming out on top. He had Michael backed up against a wall when Casey came to.

There was a reason why people called him the human weapon. He launched himself at the assassin from the floor, tackled him around the waist and took him down. From there it was only a strategic blows before the man was rendered unconscious and incapacitated.

"Hand me that tape." Casey said, holding out his hand. Michael passed him the tape, picked up his discarded gun and then went over to the table where Kennedy was hiding.

"You can come out now."

Kennedy looked up as she heard Micheal's voice. She scooted out from under the table, computer clutched tight to her chest. He walked closer and she looked up at him. He held out a hand to her. The other held his gun.

She took his hand and he helped her up. She looked around the room, noting the mess and Casey tying up the man in the corner. Shakily, she brushed her bangs back into place. "What the hell is on this drive?" She whispered.

Casey walked over to them. "Never mind. You need to tell me why you decided to bring _that_ home with you." He nodded to the drive.

"I work from home." Kennedy was defensive. "It's fixed by the way. I did it on the level. I have security."

"Obviously you need to get better security." Michael said. He raised an eyebrow. "Or learn better self-defence."

Kennedy frowned at him. Casey knew that look. She was disgusted, wither it was at the suggestion or Michael's attitude, he wasn't sure. "Just tell me what happened." He said, drawing her attention away from the team leader.

She sighed. "He cornered me on the street, just outside the house. He asked for the drive, like he knew I'd have it with me or something. I played dumb. He followed me and then broke the door down and came after me."

"So you ran? Hid?" Casey asked.

"Um, both. I..." Kennedy took a deep breath and tried to stop shaking. "I...uh..."

Casey grabbed her upper arms and squeezed gently. "It's ok." He said, though he knew that his voice didn't sound very comforting. "Just take a moment."

She nodded and took another deep breath.

Michael leaned in behind him. "I need to talk to you." He said in a low tone. The team leader walked over into the corner and waited for Casey to catch up.

Casey looked over at Kennedy who still looked shaken. "I'll be back." He told her in what he hoped was a reassuring manner. She nodded. She still clutched the computer tight to her chest. He had a feeling that she wasn't about to let it go anytime soon.

Casey walked over to Michael and braced himself for a lecture that the leader of their group was fond of giving.

Michael didn't wait long. "What are you doing?" He demanded.

"Talking to a witness about the man who broke into her home." Casey replied even though he knew that's not what the other man meant.

"There's too much at stake for me to be concerned with your office romance." Michael told him. "You either get your head in the game or I pull you out of it."

"There is no 'office romance' as you put it." Casey said. "We have a professional relationship which I took advantage of. Considering her skills, would you have done otherwise?" Michael didn't reply. "Anyways. It's my mess, so you won't pull me out of the game because you need me to fix it."

"Don't be so quick to think that I'm bluffing." Michael said. He sighed. "Usually, I give Billy this lecture not you. Why her?"

"It's professional. Not personal." Casey reassured him. "We need her to be calm so she tells us everything she knows. Usually this is the moment when I would let Billy or Rick do the talking, but it's just us now. One of us has to be nice."

Michael half smiled. "Nice, huh? I never thought I'd hear you say that word."

He shrugged. "Well, there's a first time for everything I guess. You want to be good cop, or shall I?"

Michael shook his head with a grin. "Let's both try to be a good cop and see where that gets us, Malik."

"Uh, Agent Malik?"

Casey and Michael turned towards Kennedy. She held out the computer to them with a bullet hole in the middle of the casing. "We have a problem."


End file.
